Sandi Ashlock: Your thoughts about aging - self-fulfilling prophecy

Posted:
06/28/2016 02:34:34 PM MDT

Sandi Ashlock

The way you view old age may have a very real effect on your physical health. In a study by researchers from the University of Exeter, 29 people between the ages of 66 and 98 were asked about their experience of aging and frailty, as well as their beliefs about attitude's importance in health. While most of the people believed they were in good physical shape (even those who were not), two people identified themselves as old and frail. The negative outlook led to a "cycle of decline," including stopping participation in social activities and exercise.

The researchers described the negative state of mind as a "self-fulfilling prophecy," in which a person's beliefs lead them to live a reduced quality of life. On the flipside, believing you are strong and healthy increases the changes that you will act that way.

Your mindset as you age can actually help you to live longer, provided it is a positive one. Older individuals who reported positive self-perceptions of aging during middle age live 7.5 years longer than those with less positive self-perceptions of aging. Research has also linked a person's views on aging with the development of chronic disease and other health problems. For instance, people with more negative age stereotypes earlier in life were more likely to develop brain changes linked to Alzheimer's disease.

Meanwhile, another study found that older people with positive stereotypes about aging were 44 percent more likely to fully recover for severe disability than those with negative age stereotypes. Positive attitude may promote recovery from disability via several pathways, according to the study:

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•Limiting cardiovascular response to stress

•Improving physical balance

•Enhancing self-efficacy

•Increasing healthy behaviors

The mind-body connection is also highlighted in research showing the importance of maintaining a sense of purpose in your life as you age. Feeling a believing that your life has meaning a sense of direction is linked to a lower risk of multiple health problems, including certain types of stroke, cognitive decline, and dementia including Alzheimer's disease, disability and premature death.

Neurasthenia, an age-old example of mindset influencing physical health. In the 1800's a health condition known as neurasthenia was at its peak. Said to be the result of depleting the body's nervous energy, neurasthenia was considered to be the result of living too fast, a manifestation of living in the increasingly modern, urbanized world. Neurasthenia's symptoms were numerous (headaches, weight loss, anxiety, irritability, depression, insomnia, lethargy, muscle pain and more), and its treatments ranged from the "rest cure", staying in bed for weeks, to the West cure in which men would head westward to restore their nervous energy. Many concoctions were also bottled and sold as neurasthenia cures. Not only did different cures seem to work for different people, but the disease affected men and women differently. Men, it was believed, would develop it if they spent too much time indoors while women were at risk if they spent too much time socializing outside of the house.

Uplifting you views about aging can improve your health. Your lifestyle is a profound influence on your health at any age, and this includes not only healthy eating and effective exercise but also tending to your emotional needs by deciding to be happy, thinking positively, socializing, seeking out new and exciting experiences, and associating aging with positive stereotypes instead of negative ones. If you currently have a negative outlook about aging, you have much to gain by changing that. When positive age stereotypes were strengthened, it led to improvements in physical function that rivaled those achieved by six months of exercise! And it is simply no coincidence that many centenarians mention positive thought and emotional wellness in their advice on how to stay healthy.

Choose to be happy and do not act your age. If you want to feel young and enjoy your life well into old age, adopt the mantra to not act your age. As soon as you start to tell yourself you are too old to do this or that, your mind and body may follow suit. Believing that age is just a number and that you can be fit, healthy and strong at any age, can actually help you to live longer and maintain a higher quality of life. Even subtle changes can make a difference.

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